With COVID-19 continuing to worsen no matter the precautions people are taking and new variants being introduced, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rolled out new quarantine guidelines. These new guidelines allow for people who had close contact with someone with COVID-19 to quarantine for five days- reducing the time from ten to five days of isolation.

 “If you are vaccinated and come in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, you don’t have to quarantine unless you develop symptoms,” as stated under the new CDC guidelines. “Even if you don’t develop symptoms, get tested at least 5 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.”

For further information on explicit and in-depth explanations of how long you should quarantine, please visit COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation.

Moreover, the new quarantine guidelines have created confusion for people. It has left some people wondering how the new guidelines will prevent the non stop increase of COVID cases. “… we want to get people back to jobs—particularly those with essential jobs to keep our society running smoothly,”states Chief Medical Advisor of the United States President, Anthony Stephen Fauci.

It’s absurd to believe the CDC and Dr. Fauci are far more concerned about attempting to keep this country running rather than prioritizing the health of people. From being at the forefront of answering and sharing information about the pandemic they are now more  concerned about how the economy would react if people were to quarantine per their original guidelines.

From risking their lives against a deadly virus to some people living paycheck to paycheck, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on essential workers.  According to a study conducted by Kaiser’s Family Foundation 30 percent of low-income workers had access to paid sick leave.

Despite large corporations bringing in millions of dollars per year, 30 percent is an extremely low percentage of low-income workers that have access to paid sick leave. This leaves workers having to push through a long day of work even if they are coming down with the flu. The new CDC guidelines will only leave the more than 30 percent of low-income workers with no paid sick leave and give them very little time to recover if they were exposed to COVID-19.

The new protocol only makes it easier for multi-million dollar corporations to enforce their workers to report to work if they know the CDC– a renowned and highly respected organization– has deemed it safe for people to leave their homes as long as they are safe.

A report from The Conference Board shows that 42 percent of workers are worried about returning to the workplace for fear of contracting COVID-19. “This marks a substantial jump from June 2021 when only 24 percent had that concern.”

Within only a short amount of time, there have been several new COVID-19 variants that only get deadlier as we speak. 42 percent is an alarming percentage  of workers. Although this would not account for those w0rkers who did not participate in this survey, this includes workers who continue to deal with incompetent people who refuse to wear their masks or never practice social distancing. Workers should not have to fear being exposed to COVID-19. The new CDC guidelines will only continue to add fears amongst workers.

It is not surprising that America, a  capitalist country, allows companies to profit off bare necessities and exploit their workers even if that means stuffing their pockets with millions of dollars at the cost of their workers’ health. However, the CDC must prioritize people’s health more than this country’s economy. Capitalism will continue to thrive no matter the circumstances, but reducing the number of days to quarantine and putting millions of people at risk solely to keep this economy running is not the way to combat this pandemic.